Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ: CLSD) stock established a new 52-week high of $17.67 today, closing at $17.54 and could be a company to watch at the open tomorrow and going forward. A number of brokerage analysts have commented on the stock recently, and the company has earned a consensus one-year price target of $19.00, higher than the opening price of $16.65.

Meanwhile US stocks finished the day higher after OPEC said it is considering cutting production to between 32.5 million to 33 million barrels of oil a day,

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.61% rose 110.94 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 18,339.24.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.53% rose 11.44 points, or 0.5%, to close at 2,171.37.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.24% climbed 12.84 points, or 0.2%, to end at 5,318.55.

The simplest, and best way to build a list of potential high performers is to refer to the new 52-week highs list.

For investors it can mean a trading or investing opportunity on either the long or short side, depending on the point of view of the investor.

Why New 52-Week Highs Are Closely Watched

Some view a company or stock hitting its highest price in a year as a sign of momentum and consider the event a time to buy in. Others, though, tend to interpret a new 52-week high as likely signaling the end of a strong run, with the stock peaking out before a period of decline.

However, data shows 3 out of 4 stocks follow the market’s trend, so you always want to trade in sync with the market direction

The average daily volume for Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ: CLSD) is 40,097 shares out of a total float 9,111,000 and some 274,405 shares traded hands on yesterday, 121 percent higher than normal. Significant increases in trading volume and price appreciation together could signal heavy volume accumulation by institutional investors.

As with all breakouts, investors look for volume to be at least 40%-50% higher than normal on the breakout to show that fund managers and other professional investors are jumping in.

If the share price rises sharply and the trading volume spikes well above average, that indicates demand.

A moving average can also act as support or resistance. In an uptrend a 50-day, 100-day or 200-day moving average may act as a support level.

This is because the average acts like a floor (support), so the price bounces up off of it.

In a downtrend a moving average may act as resistance; like a ceiling, the price hits it and then starts to drop again.

With that in mind Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ: CLSD) now has a 50-day MA is $8.60 and 200-day MA is $7.53, and it has traded in a 52-week range between $5.65 – 17.67 and the stocks last price was -0.74 percent off the 52 week high.

Earnings growth is an important factor to look at when buying stocks and investors look for companies that have grown their earnings at least 25% or more for the past 3 years.

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